XVI. Freya, The Swordswoman

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Seeing Ray running away from an assailant by hopping across buildings, Freya could at least tell that his enemy was stronger than Ray. Looking at him helpless on the ground with his back leaning on a wall, she drew upon the assumption that his Bloodline Magic must have been so strong, that he couldn't use it in a place with people around. Without Bloodline Magic involved, Freya thought, the tattooed man is stronger than Ray. No, not tattoos... Formulae Magic...

I can handle that, she looked at the inscriptions on the man's skin. No problems at all...

If there is any, it would if he has Special Magic.

Special Magic was something which could easily change the tides of battle. A Special Magic which could-- say, render all attacks other than magics useless-- could easily beat her. The chances of that happening was slim, but it could still happen.

Freya noticed that the man's cheek was slightly blue and there was a teeth lying on the road. Meaning: the opponent she was looking at was not invincible like Dunnford. She could see a trace of green color on the man's cheek, Ray must have used wind magic on him. After pondering for a while, she came upon the conclusion that there was only one way to check on whether or not her enemy had Special Magic; and if his Special Magic could make her attacks useless: by attacking him. The chances were slim, but having such assumptions would help.

'You're not pulling out your sword?' Tatz asked. He was waiting for her to do so. A generous person he was to give Freya time. It was obvious that he was underestimating Freya just because she was a girl.

Sure, it was a good strategy to make one's opponent off guard, but Freya was not keen on resorting to that. The fight with him might as well be her first real battle. The only reason Dunnford lost against her was simply because he was careless. She had trained with the knights around her manor, but they weren't going all out because they couldn't possibly think of injuring her. Freya wanted to know her strength in a real battle. To test her might, to measure it, so that she would know what action to take in the future.

'Do I even need to pull it out at all to win against you?' Freya smiled. Fight fire with fire; insult with insult.

'Girl, I do not like to be mocked,' his eyes were sharp.

Her provocation worked. She just needed one more touch to make her provocation even more-- provoking. With a gesture of a hand, Freya indicated for Tatz to come at her.

As soon as she did that, Freya could see that the man's inscription started to glow. It glowed in a purplish-black manner, the color of darkness. Backed up by the strength and agility given by his Formulae Magic, Tatz charged at Freya, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. His movement was fast, Tatz's speed was like that of a rock thrown by a catapult. Any normal person, like Ray for example, would be surprised facing such speed. He was fast.

Ever since waking up as Ori, Freya had the ability to perceive time slower than everybody else. She didn't know what caused that, but seeing that it was a convenient ability, she decided not to pry too deep. That ability was the reason why she was able to read books really fast. So fast, that Elaine accused her reading as simply flipping pages. Perhaps that ability was linked to some sort of mental training she did before waking up as Ori, before getting her personality pulled into her body by Inconvenient Suicide Magic, but again: Freya decided not to ask herself as the ability was convenient for her.

'BEHIND YOU,' Ray shouted with his remaining strength.

'I know,' Freya replied and she stepped sideways to the right to avoid Tatz's second charge. 'Just save your breath Ray.'

Tatz crashed to a building as he didn't stop his charge. The wall of the building shattered into pieces and the impact cause an amount of debris to fly along with dust. If his charge was in line with Ray behind her, Freya wouldn't be able to dodge. If only Tatz was more calm and composed, he could've done that, charging to Freya, in a line where Ray was directly behind her. Turned out that provoking him was a big deal after all.

From that dust caused by Tatz's crash, he rose with laughter.

'It seems that I've underestimated you too much...'

The inscriptions on his body glowed again, to the point that the glow pierced through his clothes. His skin was fully covered with inscriptions. The color of the glow, purplish-black, was even more sinister looking compared to before.

Now that I think about it, Freya thought. Not only that this is my first real battle, it's also Celeste's. She looked at the sword hanging beside her waist. 'You want to test yourself too huh?' Freya muttered to the sword. Freya smiled, proud of her own sword. 'But, I don't think he's the right opponent to test yourself. And, in a sense, not for me too.'

Freya grabbed the black and white grip of the sword and pulled Celeste out from the attachment on her waist. She didn't unsheathe the sword and held Celeste with the cover equipped. She held the sword, with one hand, her right. Her form in using the sword didn't follow the normal one people commonly use, she didn't lift the sword up, but let gravity pulled it down. The sword naturally rest beside her. Celeste barely touched the ground with Freya's height. Just the right length, she thought with a smirk.

Tatz didn't charge this time. Instead, he walked slowly towards Freya until he got to a distance where he felt comfortable landing blows.

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